Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said the Texas Family Code already grants parents the authority to consent to their minor child's abortions. He said it is not enforced because it does not provide minors with an alternative to parental involvement as required by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Both bills would allow minors to seek a judiciary bypass to avoid parental involvement.

A justice of the peace could decide if the minor was well informed and mature enough to make the decision and if it was in her best interest to proceed without her parents' consent, King said.

A minor could take a friend to the court proceedings, pseudonyms could be used and the parents could not be notified by the court, he said.

"Pro-choice" advocates, however, said that about 75 percent of girls under 17 already include their parents in the decision to abort. Those who don't have good reasons not to, they said.

"We are choosing between terminating pregnancies and dead teen-agers," said James Rigby, a minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin.

Some minors would turn to illegal abortions or suicide before telling their parents or a judge, Rigby said.

"If we pass this bill, five to 10 years from now, we'll be back with a casualty list of teen-agers," he said.

Committee member Sen. David Bernsen, D-Beaumont, said he would propose an amendment to allow others, such as a social worker, to approve an abortion without parental involvement.